Calle Sur offers a variety of workshops and clinics designed for all ages and proficiency levels. Below is a list of currently available workshops. EDUCATORS: We recommend you acquire our Latin America Music And Culture Kit CD-Rom prior to our visit. Please contact us to find out what to prepare.

K-12

Assembly: A Musical Journey Through Latin America (all ages, 45-60 minutes)
This is the most general of all programs. It offers an overview of Latin American geography, cultures, and folk music, including the demonstration of instruments and vocal styles. Many explanations are given in between the musical pieces.

Assembly: Cowboys of the Americas (all ages, 35-60 minutes)
Students are engaged in a fun and educational program that combines music, geography, and visuals to answer the following questions: What makes a cowboy a cowboy? Where did cowboys come from? What do cowboys do? What is America? What is Latin America? Where in the Americas do cowboys live and work? As the students take in this multi-disciplinary program and participate in music-making, they learn about the relationship between Latin America and the U.S.A., and about what different cultures throughout the Americas have in common.

Workshop: Making and Playing South American Panpipes (6th grade and up, 1-2 hours)
Participants will be taught how to make panpipes out of ordinary hardware supplies, and will be taught 2 traditional, South American tunes. Playing Latin American panpipes and rhythms requires teamwork, cooperation, attentive listening, and focused participation, all of which are critical life skills. While teaching about the cultural diversity within Latin America, these musical exercises also illustrate how people may perceive and understand the same situation differently. This workshop fits well into the following curricular areas: music, world cultures, social studies, and diversity awareness. Materials must be provided if host wishes to keep the panpipes ($75-$150 for 35-60 students). Otherwise, instructors can provide panpipes for students to use.

Workshop / Master Class: The True Art of Playing Maracas (All ages, 45-60 minutes)
Nowhere in the world is the art of playing the maracas as developed as in the Colombian/Venezuelan Llanos or savannas. Learn some of the striking techniques used. Some regional drumming techniques will also be demonstrated. This workshop can be adapted to all ages, but was especially designed for high school, college, and university percussion classes.

Assembly: Music And The Environment (Adapted to all ages, 45-60 minutes)
For this program the group presents a collection of songs having to do with nature, rural farm life, and environmental concerns. Intermediate level of audience participation.

Workshop: Afro-Caribbean and Brazilian Music - Origins and Development (1-2 hours, high school and up)
Explores the origins of what is known today as "Latin Music," from its birthplace in Africa to today's hybrid rhythms.

Workshop: How to play Latin American Percussion Instruments (1-3 hours, middle school and up)
Hands-on classes on playing congas, bongos, timbales, maracas, güiro, etc. For large groups, some of the instruments need to be supplied.

Long-term Residencies in Latin American Music (K-college)
Students will have an in-depth opportunity to learn and perform songs and stories which reflect the Indian, European, and African influences on Latin American and Caribbean music. The musical material and the cultural information about the music are adapted to the age of the participants.

COLLEGE LEVEL

A Musical Journey Through Latin America (45-60 minutes)
This program offers an overview of Latin American geography, cultures, and folk music, including the demonstration of instruments and vocal styles. Many explanations are given in between the musical pieces.

Workshop: Making and Playing South American Panpipes (1-2 hours)
Participants will be taught how to make panpipes out of ordinary hardware supplies, and will be taught 2 traditional, South American tunes. Materials must be provided if host wishes to keep the panpipes ($75-$150 for 35-60 students).

Workshop / Master Class: The True Art of Playing Maracas (All ages, 45-60 minutes)
Nowhere in the world is the art of playing the maracas as developed as in the Colombian/Venezuelan Llanos or savannas. Learn some of the striking techniques used.

Workshop: Afro-Caribbean and Brazilian Music - Origins and Development (1-2 hours)
Explores the origins of what is known today as "Latin Music," from its birthplace in Africa to today's hybrid rhythms.

Workshop: How to play Latin American Percussion Instruments (1-3 hours)
Hands-on classes on playing congas, bongos, timbales, maracas, güiro, etc. For large groups, some of the instruments need to be supplied.

Long-term Residencies in Latin American Music
Students will have an in-depth opportunity to learn and perform songs and stories which reflect the Indian, European, and African influences on Latin American and Caribbean music. The musical material and the cultural information about the music are adapted to the age of the participants.

Workshop on Diversity: What Meets The Eye (45-60 minutes)
This workshop illustrates how to dispel the assumptions we make about others, and it provides ideas on how to address diversity issues in schools, on campuses, and in communities.

Mixed up About Microphones, Monitors, And Mixers? (60-90 minutes)
Learn the basics of running any sound equipment! Many programming/activities board members inherit the task of setting up and running sound for their events without any prior training. This workshops explains the components of sound systems, how to hook them up, and how to run them properly.

TEACHER WORKSHOPS / PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Workshop: Multicultural Music Education (1-3 hours)
Presents concepts to make the teaching of music from other cultures a more positive experience for the teacher and the students.

Workshop: Adding Latin Percussion to the School Jazz Ensemble (1-3 hours)
Answers the following questions: what instruments should I add to a particular piece of music? What style of Latin music should I use to enhance it? Should I add any Latin percussion sounds to a particular piece of music?

Workshop on Diversity: What Meets The Eye (45-60 minutes)
This workshop illustrates how to dispel the assumptions we make about others, and it provides ideas on how to address diversity issues in schools, on campuses, and in communities.

Workshop: New Teaching Ideas / Music As A Teaching Tool (2-6 hours)
Music is a fun and powerful tool for teaching many different subjects, such as history, social studies, and physics, and for teaching concepts such as cross-cultural understanding and cooperation. Music is one of the fundamental expressions of any culture, and as a result it provides information about the customs and traditions, the humor, the geographical and natural environment, the history, and the regional variations of a language. This workshop includes lectures, musical performances, hands-on activities, discussion groups, and the exploration of Calle Sur’s educational CD-Rom, “Latin America Music And Culture Kit.”

Improving Language Skills with Music (1 hour)
This workshop focuses on using idioms, phrases, slang, proverbs, etc. and creating musical "hooks" as a renewable source of teaching material. Workshop participants will examine the lyrics of popular songs and identify idiomatic expressions. Participants will share proverbs or idioms and their meanings and if time allows, will assist in writing a song utilizing them. A version of this workshop developed specifically for ELL teachers is available.

“Latin America: all of the countries south of the United States, including the Caribbean Islands.”